“For three hundreds years after the resurrection of Christ, the Church grew exponentially without the benefit of a compiled New Testament.”
Yes but many of them had Paul’s letters or copies of the letters. Stanley asserts that it’s all black and white but it’s not.
Also, in Acts the apostles continued the many miracles and mighty works Jesus started in His ministry. Performing miracles was part of the reason for people to believe Jesus was who He claimed He was (Acts 2:22), something Stanley’s church doesn’t do.
Andy is not discounting the letters of the New Testament. I have heard him preach on this on many occasions. He values the Gospels and writings of James, John and Paul to be that of eyewitness testimony to the life, death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus. If any of these critics listened to all five sermons in the series and not cherry pick lines out, they would acknowledge that.
I have read statistics that 2 out of 3 children raised in Christian homes are leaving the faith in college and their 20’s. This group is called the “nones” because that is how they answer surveys when questioned about their religious affiliation. More than anything else, this breaks my heart and I know it breaks Andy Stanley’s also.
His argument about the Bible is this. Do you need a birth certificate to verify that you were born and are alive? It is documentation and proof, but if it were lost, would you cease to exist? Of course not. One of the reasons that “nones” leave Christianity is that they see the Bible being in conflict with science. I personally don’t have an issue with that, but I’m not everyone. My faith is secure, I trust God and I don’t need the answers to everything. I don’t want to have an argument with a “none” about the age of the earth, the great flood etc... Faith in Jesus comes first and foremost and I don’t want to get off track. That should be the focus and the other discussions divert from the good news of the life of Jesus.
There is consensus among scholars that Jesus did live and died on a cross. The fact that his disciples and followers willingly suffered for the sake of his Gospel proves that they believed without a doubt in his resurrection. I’ll argue this all day long. Andy preaches that. I’ve never heard him directly question his belief in the Bible. To the contrary, he argues that point almost every week.